Arctic Fire
by bookgal33
Summary: Stranded on a planet where the weather changes quickly. Survival skills are needed. Mostly team fic. Some S/J
1. Chapter 1

Jack O'Neill studies the small campfire currently popping and snapping in the wind. It's not going to be hot enough or large enough to get them through this weather.

The remote observatory sensors have shown a worrying trend in the weather the last few days. It's gone from late summer to late fall in just a few days. The sun sets earlier and the temp has dropped alarmingly. Finally making his decision he rummages through the supplies on the FRED. An inventory of survival gear eases his mind somewhat. It's enough for a few more days. If the weather stays the same. He doubts it. He worries most about the lack of warm clothes. Their standard BDU's aren't enough protection against the colder weather.

"Teal'c," he calls out. He winces. He hates having to interrupt Teal'c doing his kel'nor'eem.

His Jaffa teammate emerges from a tent after a few minutes. "O'Neill?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need you to make a fire pit." He points to a shovel propped up on the FRED. "Something longer." Jack sketches his idea for a deeper, long trench with a handy stick. Building a bigger fire near their tents will warm them up. "I'm going to find more wood, and some rocks to line it."

Teal'c nods and picks up the shovel. He soon has a narrow one foot deep trench started in front of the tents. Jack grabs a field pack and heads to some of the brush cover. A small ax is hooked into his vest loop and he cuts some dry branches off the trees and scoops up leaves and small sticks for kindling. Those he stuffs into the field pack. The larger pieces of wood he piles near the edge of the brush.

He makes three trips with the wood and kindling back to camp. Soon he has a decent pile of fuel. Teal'c has a four foot long trench dug.

"Good going." The two friends hike out to find rocks to line the trench. "It'd be easier if we can take the stones from Daniel's ruins." Jack muses.

They've found half a dozen flat wide stones and are placing them carefully into the pit. "We may yet do that, O'Neill."

The pit doesn't have enough stones to line it. They stare at the trench and back to the temple. "Daniel's gonna throw a fit."

"It seems we have little choice." Teal'c watches as the soft dirt crumbles slowly into the bottom of the trench.

"Daniel!" Jack raises his voice to be heard over the rising wind. The tents rustle and flap in the background.

An olive green bandana pops up over the collapsed wall. The archeologist stands up from where he's been kneeling and cleaning off dirt to a layer of rock beneath. His bright blue eyes behind the glasses glare at both of his friends.

"What?" Daniel snaps. He's annoyed at being interrupted. Daniel checks the sun level and turns back to Jack and Teal'c. He scowls at them both. There's plenty of light left for him to work.

"We need flat stones. What part of the temple is a bust?"

Daniel's expression morphs into outrage. "You are not dismantling the temple, Jack. It needs to be studied, photographed and measured."

"Daniel, we will freeze." Jack states. His words are clipped and cold. "Find me a dozen flat stones for the fire pit or I'll take them." Jack offers his friend a choice.

Daniel's gaze bounces from the fire pit to the temple and back to Jack and Teal'c. He can and has argued with Jack before, but he recognizes the look Teal'c is giving him. "Fine. Come with me." He stomps over to the lowest part of the temple. Jack hears some muttering going on. He recognizes a few words of the Arabic dialect his friend is venting in. He smothers a grin when Daniel turns around.

The stones there are so worn the writing on them is impossible to read. He did rubbings of the carvings earlier in the week so these are the most expendable areas. "You can use these," Daniel points out a group of free standing stones. The three men muscle the rocks into the trench. The hot rocks from the campfire go into small cracks.

Jack carefully lines the stone trench with the leaves and sticks from his pack. They start to smolder when the campfire rocks touch the kindling. Teal'c then shovels the embers from the small campfire onto the kindling. Small fires pop up. The logs from the campfire are placed carefully into the trench with the shovel. When the fire consumes the campfire fuel. Jack drops the new wood into the dying fire. The coals light the dry wood on fire.

Soon the larger fire is burning steadily. The heat radiating up from the stones warm the three friends.

"That feels better." Daniel holds out his hands. "I didn't realize how cold I was." He shudders as the warmth touches his face and arms.

Jack checks the light. "Teal'c, go get Carter." In the distance the fourth member of the team can be seen working on the DHD.

"Indeed." The Jaffa jogs toward his friend. Soon they can see her arguing with him.

Daniel shivers in the wind. "I have an idea."

"And?" O'Neill keeps his eyes on Teal'c and Carter. Finally she gives into Teal'c and packs up her tools.

"The materials tent we packed. What if we set that over our actual tents for a wind barrier?" Daniel reminds his friend of the extra archeological supplies.

Jack groans. More work in the wind and the fading light. But it's a good idea. It will protect their tents and conserve heat. "Yeah, let's do it."

They pull out the tent from the FRED and stake it out. It takes longer than they expected, mostly because they move the sleeping tents and cut holes in the material tent to thread the sleeping tent ropes through. Setting it closer to the temple wall was another good idea. It helps block the wind, but it took a while to figure out sight line to the Stargate and still close to the fire pit to benefit from the warmth. Carter was a big help with that.

"It's like a Russian nesting doll." Sam swipes the sweat off her face, as they finish setting it up. Daniel and Teal'c set the stakes deep into the ground. "Tents in a tent." She explains seeing the confused look on Teal'c's face. Daniel explains the actual doll to his friend.

"Hopefully it'll help." The wind has kicked up and Jack can swear he smells snow in the air. "Let's eat and turn in."

The MRE's fill their bellies and the fire provides much needed warmth.

"How're the repairs coming, Carter?" The DHD took a hit at some point and the crystals were shook loose. Sam is trying to replace them so they can dial home. Or at least unlock the inner gate ring for a manual dial. It's slow going. The SGC sent diagrams and photos of other DHD's which help. Sam has been checking them all to make sure there are no cracks in the crystals or in the connections.

She shakes her head. "Slowly, sir. I've got most of them checked and I think they're in the right spots."

He nods. "Still locked up," Jack guesses.

"Sorry, sir." Sam looks down at her cookies. "I'll start again when the sun rises." She sips the hot coffee Daniel made and warms her hands on the mug.

"Not your fault." The DHD was knocked off the pedestal when they got here, so who knows how long the thing was broken.

"I'm wondering if there isn't enough power to transmit to the gate," she muses. "It could have drained out slowly."

"Like a battery!" Daniel holds up his video camera.

Sam nods excitedly. "Exactly. We know how much energy is needed to unlock the ring for it to spin. We also know the gate stores energy, but perhaps the DHD provides it with a constant charge." Sam shrugs. She's been thinking about this for a while. "Just enough to keep the gate ready for use."

"So like when you flip on a switch for the lights?" O'Neill surprises his team with the observation.

Sam nods. "It could be. And having the crystals out of order and loose meant the light wasn't plugged in." She sips her coffee. "I'm going to try hooking up the naquadah generator tomorrow. See if it takes a charge." Suddenly she yawns. "I'm going to turn in. Wake me for my watch." The Major disappears into the left side of the materials tent.

"I will take first watch," Teal'c announces.

"Okay." Daniel crawls into his tent.

Jack helps Teal'c stack the limited amount of firewood. He tosses in more leaves and small branches to feed the fire. "We could use more wet fuel." He's thinking about how to bank the fire so it lasts. The logs they placed on the fire earlier have collapsed into glowing embers.

"Like in Hawaii." Teal'c says suddenly.

"What?" O'Neill has stopped in the midst of reaching for one more log. He stares up at the Jaffa. His mind boggles at the thought of Teal'c on a surfboard or at the beach.

"The ritual of a luau. The Hawaiians pack their cooking trench with vegetation which are wet and the fire slowly cooks the meat. It provides enough heat and steam to cook meat, but not to burn out."

Jack stares at his friend. "Where did you learn about luaus?"

"The base library. And the travel channel." Teal'c says calmly. "We should look for fresh leaves and green wood tomorrow."

"Uh, sure." Jack shakes his head. Teal'c never fails to surprise him. "After breakfast. Wake me in a few hours, buddy."

"I shall, indeed."


	2. Chapter 2

Jack crawls into his sleeping bag next to Carter. She's curled up like a little kid in her bag. Jack is reminded of how Charlie used to sleep on camping trips and his heart clutches.

He drops off to sleep in seconds. A few hours later he wakes automatically. Checking his watch he sees Teal'c is almost off watch. Jack sits up and shivers in the cool air.

"Watch, sir?" Carter says.

"Yeah. Sorry to wake you." Jack's pulling on his boots.

"You didn't. It's cold." The camping lamp goes on low and he can see the Major is pulling on another BDU jacket.

"Carter, use my sleeping bag." He instructs. He forestalls her protest by pulling it over on hers.

"Thanks, sir." She unzips the bag and uses it as a blanket. She shudders as she pulls it up to her chin.

"Don't freeze on me, Carter. I hate paperwork." Jack crawls out of the tent and joins Teal'c by the fire.

"Temp dropped, didn't it?" Jack says to Teal'c. The fire is banked and burning slowly. Teal'c has found green leaves and new wood to add to it. Jack shakes his head. Again Teal'c never fails to surprise him. The stream of their breath wafts into the night. He can feel the difference even a few hours has made. Jack holds his hands over the fire for a few minutes. He rubs his hands together to get the blood circulating.

"I believe it is below freezing, O'Neill."

Jack nods in agreement. His ears have started to tingle with the cold. "You okay?"

"My symbiote dislikes the cold, so has raised my body tempature to compensate." Teal'c answers.

"Jr. gave you a fever?"

The Jaffa hesistates. "It is not that simple. But I will not freeze, O'Neill." He assures the younger man.

"Good. Make sure you keep up on the kel'no'reem." He gives Teal'c a hard stare.

Teal'c nods and heads to the tent he shares with Daniel to do that.

The night is cold. Jack can still smell snow on the air. The light is muted with the strange stars hidden by clouds. With the shovel he stirs the fire and adjusts some of the half burned logs. The cinders spark in the air. With the brightened fire he sees a few snowflakes swirling down.

Jack fumbles for his flashlight and it beams on. He's right. It is snowing. He gets up from the warm space by the fire and heads out to find more wood and leaves. They're going to need dry wood and fast.

Circling around the gate he checks the DHD. He's no Carter, but he's picked up enough knowledge. It looks okay, but something nags at him. Behind the gate platform he spots some sticks. Jack adds them to the pack he slung over his shoulder. Some small pieces of wood go in as well. Sweeping the flashlight over the ground he makes his way back to the campsite.

Checking by the temple he sees some larger wood pieces. Daniel will toss a fit if they're artifacts. He puts them aside in the materials tent. He scribbles a quick note to Daniel to see if they can use the wood. The rest of the watch moves quickly. Feeding the fire, searching for wood, checking the perimeter keeps him busy.

Carter crawls out next to him. "Sir, go get warm."

She shivers in the cold. "I'm fine, Carter. You still cold?" He notices her shivering.

She gets closer to the fire trench. "A little." The heat lights her face.

"Stay close to the fire, when you can." He leaves the survival blanket for her. "Use this." He smiles at her. "Frasier would kill me if you got hypothermia."

"Moving around will help keep me warmer, sir." Sam has already seen the pile of wood. "I'll check for more fuel." Being close to the fire has helped warm her. "I won't freeze, sir. I promise."

"Good. Between the doc and the paperwork, my career would be over." Jack pats her on the shoulder and chuckles at her startled face.

"Kidding, Sam." He crawls into the tent and adjusts his sleeping bag back on the air mattress. Closing his eyes he listens for the crackle of the fire, the hiss of the snow melting, and the night sounds of an alien planet.

He wakes up with a full bladder and a cold nose. Stumbling out of the tent to use the latrine he runs into Daniel feeding the fire. The zat comes out.

"Watch it!"

"Oh, it's you." The chime of the gun being disarmed eases tension.

"I'll be right back. Don't shoot me." Jack jogs off to the latrine area. The snow is still falling, but slowly.

"How cold is it?" He asks Daniel when he returns.

"About the same." Daniel is huddled up near the fire pit. Sam left him the survival blanket. Daniel hates the cold. He can deal with it, but he really dislikes it. Even the hockey rinks are pushing it for him.

"I found some more wood." He chatters. "And the stuff in the tent is fine to use." Daniel has set up an ingenious device at the end of the trench that holds his camping percolator. It balances it over the fire so the coffee stays hot. But the wires and supports are cooler to the touch. He holds out a mug.

Jack shakes his head. "Going back to sleep." He yawns. The sun hasn't come up yet, but he can see the glow on the horizon.

Back in the tent Carter's teeth are chattering. She's curled up again trying to conserve body heat.

"Sam." He whispers. She turns over.

"CCCold, sir."

"I know." Jack unzips his sleeping bag then hers.

Sam shudders harder as the cold air washes over her. "Wha-what are you doing?"

Jack ignores her and works quickly. He rezips the sleeping bags together and pulls them closer on the air mattresses. "Hang on, Carter." He kicks off his boots and slides into the the larger bag.

"C'mere." He pulls her into his arms. Sam shivers and curls close to him. He tucks her hands into his armpits.

"No tickling, Carter," he orders. She manages a giggle. She settles into his body and puts her head on his shoulder.

"Better?" he asks after a few minutes. Her shivers have slowed.

"Umm." She's sleepy. "Warmer, now." She slurs. Sam shifts away from him. He puts a hand on her back. "Stay right where you are." He thinks about it. "Well you can move your hands." Sam giggles again and slides her hands down his sides. She settles in and gets comfortable. "Thank you, sir." She mumbles.

"You bet." He closes his eyes and tries to ignore the rising heat in his own body. Being this close to Sam is stirring memories and emotions he's been trying to forget. That they both have to deny feeling. It takes him a long time to fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam shifts in her sleep. She's so warm. She remembers being cold most of the day. Now the bed is warm. Almost hot. She snuggles into her pillow. Her arm tingles and she shifts again.

"Hey, Carter." The tenor voice of her CO sounds in her ear.

Her eyes flicker open and she stares at Jack O'Neill. He's inches away from her and she suddenly realizes she's wrapped around her CO. The memory of the night before comes to her slowly. She was freezing and he shared his body heat and sleeping bag. That's why she's so warm. She's sleeping in Jack's arms.

Before she can think about it one hand comes up to caress his face. "Jack," she whispers.

He smiles down at her. "Morning, Carter."

Hearing her work name makes her jump. The sleep fog clears from her mind. "Sir!"

"It's not much warmer today than it was yesterday. Bundle up and take a lot of breaks near the fire." Jack orders her. He chooses to ignore the caress and sits up to start the day. Sam slides back on her side of the sleeping bag. Both shiver at the loss of warmth.

"You have gloves or something?" He asks her. He keeps his head down as he rummages for more socks. Finding them he pulls on the second pair of socks over his feet before stomping into his boots.

"The fingerless ones." She replies. They rarely wear them, but they always end up in the packs.

"Well it's better than nothing. Put em on." He rummages in his pack. "Wish I brought a watch cap. My ears are cold." He complains. He cups his hands over his ears. Sam grins. She thinks his ears are sexy. She likes the swirls and how they sit flat against his head. She remembers Thera telling Jona that and he laughed. But he was a little embarrassed. Those ears flushed.

Sam sees he pulls his own pair of gloves out of the pack along with his baseball cap. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

She quickly gets dressed, adding another pair of socks before pulling on her uniform jacket. She's got so many layers on, she feels padded. Sam grabs her hat and gloves and crawls out to the fire pit.

The fire pit is still burning. The swirling snow hisses as it hits the glowing embers. Sam sees Teal'c adding a few more pieces of wood to the fire along with leaves and newly cut branches. The space blankets are spread out on the stone pillars of the temple where they set up camp. Daniel has anchored them down with smaller rocks. The snow hasn't seemed to accumulate in the area, but it falls slow and steady. She's reluctant to leave the warmer area but she has to visit the latrine area. Sam hurries back to the fire pit and settles by the fire.

"How long has it been snowing?" Sam asks.

Daniel hands her a cup of coffee. "Since about 0200." She huddles the cup close to her face to absorb the heat. Daniel grins at her. He does the same thing.

Sam checks her watch. Earth time says 0900. So it's been snowing all night. "That's odd." She looks around again at the campsite. It's wet not snow covered.

"What?"

"Well, if it's been snowing all night, we'd expect more accumulation. But there isn't." She looks around and there are patchy areas that are white, but other places where the ground is just wet. She twists on the stone seat to look at the tent and temple. Only a little dusting of snow covers the roof of their tent. The temple has the same pattern of light snow and wet ground seen elsewhere. "It's just wet and muddy."

"I have a theory," Jack says.

Daniel's head snaps around. Teal'c continues to place branches on the fire. Sam sips her coffee. Jack knows she's hiding a smile.

"YOU?" Daniel says.

"Yes, Daniel. I can theorize with the best of them." He snaps. "The weather here changes slowly, but steadily. When we got here it was late summer weather. It took a few days for us to notice that it was getting colder. Then the wind and rain picked up. Now it's more early winter weather." Jack fills his coffee mug. "So the ground hasn't frozen totally. Which is why no accumulation." The look he gives the others remind them Jack grew up with snow. "I bet it'll keep snowing until the ground freezes and it can build up. Unlike home where we get blizzards this seems to be slow and steady rather than dumping inches overnight."

Daniel's mouth hangs open in shock. He can see Carter thinking. Practically hear it. But growing up in Minnesota he knows winter weather. Daniel spent his early years bouncing back and forth between Egypt and the US. Carter was a military brat. He knows she spent a lot of time in California and the southeast. Neither of them have the nearly innate knowledge of winter he does.

Sam turns to Teal'c, "Have you experienced other worlds with weather like the Colonel describes?"

As always the Jaffa considers carefully. "I have not personally. But Master Bra'tac told me of a world once conquered from Apophis that sounded like this one."

Sam nods. "We sort of expect other worlds to have the same seasons and weather as Earth, but that's not always true. Remember Madrona?" Her team members nod.

"So Jack how long do we have before we get buried in snow and ice?" Daniel asks.

The older man shrugs. "Probably a few more days." He turns to Carter, "Can you get the gate active?"

Sam nods. "I was going to test out the generator and the crystal configuration today."

"Good." Jack looks at the team. "Teal'c and I will take turns looking for fire wood. Carter and Daniel you will take breaks and sit by the fire."

Sam nods. "Yes, sir." She's scooted closer to the warmth of the fire as he talks.

"But Jack!" Daniel starts the expected complaint.

O'Neill holds up a hand. "I don't want to hear it Daniel. First, it's freezing out here. Second, we need to keep the fire going. Third, it's not fair to Carter to put it all on her, while you work." Jack ticks off his points on his hand. Daniel looks ashamed at the reminder that he'd make Sam stop working on the DHD. Which is more important right now than the temple.

"Okay. Sam, we switch off every hour?"

Sam nods. "That's a good idea Daniel. We each get uninterrupted work time and the fire stays hot."

Teal'c stands. "I will gather wood and kindling." He picks up two field packs. He slings one over his back and carries the other. The big man disappears silently into the woods.

It's Daniel's turn to clean up the campsite. He gathers up the MRE wrappers and stuffs them in the trash bag on the FRED. He slowly feeds some of the wood onto the fire to keep it burning. The coffee grounds get emptied out and he refills the percalator. Having hot coffee on the boil will help keep everyone warm. And alert. They are running low on water and boiling water from the nearby stream helps extend their own supplies.

Sam and Jack have hiked to the Stargate. Daniel watches as Sam pulls the cover off the DHD and Jack opens up his space blanket and anchors it with the toolbox and his own pack.

Daniel nods and gets his own blanket out of the tac vest to use in the temple.

"Try it now, sir." Sam says. Her voice is muffled as she's in the guts of the DHD. Jack turns on the naquadah generator. The hum of the generator shivers through his hands.

"Hmmm." Sam pulls back out of the DHD. She stands to watch the crystals react. Some light up. She shakes her head.

"No good, sir." Jack cuts the power and the DHD goes darker.

"Here's an idea." Jack starts.

Sam looks up. She's surprised. "Sir?"

"Are we sure that the DHD is centered like it should be?" He's been studying the pedestal and it still seems off to him. He finally realised what was bugging him about the DHD.

"I don't think it's centered correctly." Gesturing to her he steps back.

Sam joins him. They study the DHD together. Finally Sam nods. "It looks off." She stands behind it, as if she would dial home. The position feels strange. "You're right, sir. There must be some connection that's not getting made."


	4. Chapter 4

Suddenly the chevrons light up and the familiar chunk of them locking sounds. Jack reaches for his weapon as the wormhole billows out. Sam pulls her zat out of the leg sheath. The clicking of the MALP draws their attention.

"Colonel O'Neill, this is the SGC, please respond." The deep tones of General Hammond sound through the radio on the MALP.

Jack relaxes a little. He plays with the camera on the robot. "We're here, General." He waves to everyone back home.

"You're overdue for check-in, Colonel."

"Yeah, about that. The DHD is still down. We can't dial anywhere." Jack reports what Hammond already knows. "Carter's made progress though. She thinks it's almost fixed."

"Is everyone ok?" The general asks. He's worried about his people, even though he trusts them.

"We're fine. We could use some supplies though." Jack turns to his second in command. "Carter!" He shouts to be heard over the wind. "What do you need?"

She joins him at the MALP camera. "Hi, sir. Can you have Siler grab the DHD plans Colonel O'Neill wrote up when he had the ancients knowledge downloaded into his brain? And there's a box of tools in my lab that I need now."

While Carter is talking Jack contacts Daniel and Teal'c on their radios. "Guys the SGC dialed in. What do you need?"

"Can you have the General send a few books from my office?" Daniel radios in.

"You need to write them down, Daniel."

Jack takes over the camera again. "General can you send us some warmer clothes?"

"Pardon, Jack?" The deep Texan drawl is accented by worry.

"The seasons here are different than ours. It's now snowing and about 30 degrees. Send us some winter gear. Hats, gloves, winter uniforms, warm jackets." He clarifies. "Basically anything you think we'd need for wintertime." Jack knows he can depend on Hammond and the quartermaster to cover the bases.

Teal'c radios in. "O'Neill we can use more food. If the SGC has fire fuel we need that."

"Good thinking, T." Trust Teal'c for the practical survival suggestions. He relays their needs to the General. In the meantime Daniel has jogged over to the gate.

"Hi General. Can you have someone grab a few books from my office?" Daniel reads off the titles he needs.

"Yes, Dr. Jackson." The general sounds as if he's holding in a laugh. "Dr. Fraiser just asked if you're all keeping warm and have any hypothermia symptoms?"

Jack shoots a look at Carter. "No hypothermia. We've got a fire pit and everyone takes breaks to stay warm. Teal'c is hunting for more wood. It got cold last night though." Sam ducks her head at the reminder. Her cheeks pinken.

"Okay, Colonel." General Hammond responds. "I'll have the gear gathered and sent through in two hours. Unless Major Carter thinks you'll be home by then." The deep voice has a hint of worry.

"No, sir." Sam chimes in.

Suddenly the tools and a scroll of paper appear on the platform of the Stargate. Daniel's books follow.

"We just sent the DHD plans and Dr. Jackson's books."

Jack chuckles. "Yeah we just got them. Thanks, sir." He can imagine Siler hurrying through the halls with the tools and plans while the librarian hunted in Daniel's office. She's the only one other than Daniel who can find anything on his shelves.

"We'll gather the other things and send them through in a few hours. Good luck SG-1." The wormhole collapses.

Jack stands up and stretches his back out. Hunching over to talk into the camera bugs him. "Carter! Daniel! Break time!" He herds them to the fire. Carter protests until he points out the time.

Jack reaches up and clicks on his radio. "Teal'c, how are you?"

"O'Neill, I am returning to the campsite. I will be there in five minutes." Teal'c comes through over the static and noise.

"Good. We're taking a break. See you there."

Daniel stashes two of his books in the tent and sits at the fire pit with the third. Sam shivers and pulls her space blanket around her. Jack shoves a cup of coffee into her hands. "Drink this, Major." Jack is concerned at her unusual sensitivity to the cold on this world. She's normally not as bothered by the cold as this.

She warms her hands on the cup and sips it gratefully. She enjoys the warmth flooding her stomach. Sam shudders and pulls the mug closer.

Jack holds his hands over the firepit for a few minutes. He pours some coffee and sits down next to Carter. He can share body heat a little. She scoots over to make room. Jack shifts to a more comfortable position on the seat. "Hey share some of that blanket." He tugs on the edge of the space blanket. Sam smiles a little and adjusts it so he's covered. They sit quietly sipping coffee and sharing body heat.

Teal'c appears from the brush cover with two packs filled to bursting and wood tucked under his arm. Jack jumps up and takes some of the wood.

They pile it in the space between the sleeping tents to keep it dry. The kindling and smaller wood pieces are left in the packs. Teal'c adds some of the kindling into the pit. The flames jump to consume the new fuel.

Sam digs into the food supplies and passes out powerbars. Daniel pours coffee all around.

"Teal'c, can you help us align the DHD?" Sam asks.

One eyebrows cocks. "Is it not set in place already?"

Sam takes a bite of her powerbar. She shakes her head. As she hastily swallows Jack starts to explain.

"It seems off. When on watch something about it bugged me." He explains. "We've all seen how the DHD's are set to the 'gate."

Daniel and Teal'c nod. Sam takes over. "I have to check the DHD plans General Hammond sent through, but I'm pretty sure the crystals are in the right spots. But not all of them are charged. I think the alignment might have something to do with that."

Teal'c nods. "I am at your service, MajorCarter."

They sit around the fire for another half an hour. Daniel pages through his book and scribbles in his notebook. Teal'c has dropped into kel'nor'eem and his chest rises and falls with the measured breathing. Jack slowly feeds the fire green branches and small pieces of dry wood to keep it going. Sam absorbs the warmth of the fire and sips her coffee.

The whoosh of the Stargate brings the team out of their own thoughts. Several boxes appear on the platform.

O'Neill is on his feet first. He gets to the MALP camera. "That you General?"

The light tenor voice of Walter comes through the speaker. "General Hammond is on the phone, Colonel."

"Hey Walter!" Jack waves. "How's everything?"

"We sent winter uniforms, more food, some fuel for your fire. Dr. Frasier insisted on sending some medical supplies and more water."

"Great! Tell the Doc we're all okay so far." More water. He knew there was something. He'll have to thank the doc.

"Yes, sir." Walter sounds resigned.

Daniel and Sam drag the boxes away from the wormhole.

"We'll be home soon." Jack grins into the camera and waves again.

The wormhole shuts down and the four friends lug the supplies back to their campsite.

"Okay, everyone change into the winter clothes. Gloves, long underwear, warm socks." O'Neill orders. "Carter, you go first," He gestures to the tent they share.

"Oh, look." Daniel has poked into the boxes. "They sent the Artic sleeping bags."

"That's next." Jack's relieved the warmer sleeping supplies were sent as well. Even if it's only for one night. He knew he could trust the General.

Sam crawls into the tent and changes out of her lighter clothes. The warm military grade long underwear comes as a relief. She feels warmer already. The long sleeved fleece shirt is next and she wriggles into the lined winter pants. She pulls on the heavier jacket and buttons it up. The longer wool socks go on her feet and up to her calves.

Even the boots are winterized. She sighs happily. The General thought of everything. Her warmer toes wriggle in the boots.

"All yours, sir." Sam's blonde head pokes out of the tent flap. She moves to the side and lets in her CO so he can change.

"Look Sam!" Daniel has changed as well. He's now digging through the supplies. Pulling out the extra space blankets and the heavy sleeping bags from the box. "We can line the tents with the blankets and use our other sleeping bags to insulate the floor of the tent!"

She smiles. "That'll help."

Jack comes out fully dressed in his winter gear. He has snugged a watch cap over his ears and it's just touching his eyebrows. It's the only hint he was suffering from the cold as well. "I want everyone to drink some water. Frasier was right to send more." He fills the canteens and passes them around. Sam drains hers and refills it. She's so thirsty. In the back of her mind she knows it's not good, but until the DHD is fixed, there's nothing she can do. Daniel adds more water to the coffee pot.

When everyone is changed into the winter uniforms. Daniel hands out the extra space blankets. "We can line the tent floors with these and then add our sleeping bags over them to insulate the tents."

"Good idea, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c inclines his head to his tentmate. He has pulled his favored watch camp over his tattoo and down around his ears.

"Were you okay last night, Daniel?" Jack asks.

He shrugs. "A little cold, but not too bad." He disappears into the tent.

Teal'c's eyebrows disappear into the hem of the hat. That said all Jack needs to know. The three hear rustling and a few curses as he winterizes the tent. He comes out and grabs a sleeping bag and goes back in again.

Carter finishes her coffee. "I'm going to check out these plans, sir." Sam heads into the tent, since it's the only place the wind and still falling snow can't get to. The camping light glows through the tent material. Sam comes out 20 minutes later. "I know what's wrong!" She beams. Sam waves the rolled up plans in the air. "I can fix it, and we can let the crystals charge overnight and be home tomorrow afternoon!"

Jack looks up from the soup mug he's scowling into. "Okay." Setting his soup aside, he stands and claps his hands. "What do we need to do?"

"I need you and Teal'c to align the DHD. It's not that far off, actually." Sam grins. "Since we don't have a DHD, and even if we did we'd have to jerry rig it anyway," she starts, "there's no way we would have known this is a big problem for the power to the gate."

"Huh," Jack seems to have listened with half an ear. He checks the fire and then sticks his head into Teal'c and Daniel's tent. "Hey we're going to fix the DHD. Man the fire." The archeologist is scribbling madly in his field journal. He pages through the books surrounding him on the sleeping bag . "Okay."

Sam, Teal'c and Jack hike the short distance to the DHD. Sam studies the DHD and the numbers in her notebook. "Okay, we need to shift the DHD 5 cm forward. And 2 cm right." Sam crawls around and marks the area where the DHD has to go.

"Ok, sir. Teal'c. If you can move the DHD forward slowly." Teal'c and O'Neill start to shove the machine slowly forward. The grinding of the bottom against the stone gives O'Neill shivers. He then hears the chinking of the crystals.

"STOP!" As they stop the DHD drops down a little. They move to the left and press the DHD forward. This time they don't need Sam to tell them to stop. The device clicks into place. They all hear the hum of the crystals powering up.

Sam pops the top off the control area and moves two orange crystals around. The chevrons on the Gate light up briefly.

Sam sighs and smiles in relief. "They're linked up and charging." She's checking the power levels with some scanner gadget.

Jack stands behind the DHD. It feels right. Sam replaces the top. "All set, sir."

"Let's get back to camp." Even Jack is starting to feel the cold. "Getting colder." He glances at Teal'c. "You okay, buddy?"

He nods. "The extra food, the warmer uniforms, and the longer burning fuel have dropped my body tempature to normal." The hat probably helped too.

"Good." He's relieved.

Back at camp Daniel is wrapped up in his survival blanket and his books. He looks up at his friends. "Well?"

"It's powering up and all linked again." Sam reports. "Sir, if you don't mind, I'm going to get some sleep."

Sam yawns.

"Yeah, go on." Her teammates share a brief concerned look. Jack reminds himself to check Frasier's medical supplies. He finds a note insisting they all take the medications she packed. Vitamins, Tylenol, some ibuprofen.

Sam crawls into the tent. Daniel must have fixed up her tent when they were fixing the DHD. It has the extra space blankets and the sleeping bags spread on the floor. Sam kicks off her boots and zips into the winter bag. She is asleep in moments.

After explaining the Doc's note and taking the pills, Jack, Teal'c, and Daniel work on the temple. Daniel has his teammates pack up some of the artifacts and stones he wants to study. Jack peels off halfway through to feed the fire. He tosses another artificial log on the fire. He chuckles at the thought of Hammond sending someone to the store for camping logs and shipping them through the stargate. He wouldn't put it past Hammond to have them stored somewhere on base.

The sun is moving lower on the horizon. He wakes up Carter. She's probably starving. "Up an at 'em, Carter. You need to eat. Have some water." He hands her a cup. In his other hand are the pills.

She rubs her eyes. "Yessir." Sam blinks a few times to clear the sleep away. The first sip of cold water is a relief for her dry throat. She guzzles the rest. "Umm."

"Take these." He hands her the four pills.

"Sir?"

"Tylenol, ibuprofen, Vitamin C, and some vitamin D." he explains. "Frasier insisted. We all took some. Even Teal'c."

Sam swallows the pills and gets more water. "Does Janet think we're in danger?"

He shrugs. "Mentioned something about the flu on base and concerns about the weather change shocking our systems. She wants to boost our immunity and all that." He downplays the concern he feels for her. Even in the tent light, she's looking pale.

Jack harries Daniel to finish whatever he's working on. "You're gonna ruin your eyes." He tells his friend.

Daniel grins. "Too late," Daniel is face down on the stone pathway. His nose is touching one of the carvings he's translating. "I'm gonna take a rubbing of this lower area then pack it up."

Jack holds down one side of the tracing paper.

"Good. Thanks Jack." Daniel rolls up the paper and grabs his tools and the survivial blanket. He pops open the storage box and packs the paper and tools away. The two of them haul the box onto the FRED.

"Hey, where's Sam?" Daniel looks around.

"Oh for crying out loud." O'Neill jogs to the gate. "Carter!" he bellows.

"Ow." Sam has hit her head against the edge of the DHD when he yelled. She slides out of the inner workings and smiles. She rubs her head.

"Just checking the power levels, sir."

"We can do that later. Get back to camp." He takes a closer look at her. She's shivering. "I told you no hypothermia, Carter!"

"I needed to check the levels, sir." Sam defends herself. "We'll be home soon."

He escorts her back to the campfire. He pulls out the medicine and hands her another ibuprofen and Tylenol.

Sam shakes her head. "I'm fine, sir."

"It wasn't a request, Major." He has his Colonel face on. "You never have problems with the cold. And you can't tell me you haven't had trouble sleeping." He holds out the pills again. Everyone took Janet's minimum dosage level. Carter can handle some more.

She swallows the pills. Truth be told, she's feeling a little achy. She was going to request some leave time after this mission anyway. She drinks some more water and starts another pot of coffee.

Jack glares at her and finally stomps off to help Daniel pack up more stuff.

The snapping of Velcro is heard as the sun slides lower on the horizon. "Sun is setting earlier every day. That's a full 5 minutes earlier than yesterday," Jack turns on the camping lights.

"I'd like to check the DHD again, before the sun goes down totally, sir." Sam ventures.

He nods. "Teal'c go with her."

Sam pulls out her monitoring device and the plans. Teal'c brings the powerful flash light and his staff weapon.

They're back in ten minutes. "It's almost fully charged already." Sam reports.

"Wish my camera batteries charged that fast." Daniel says. He's turned off the video camera as the battery is in the red.

"Now that would be a technology breakthrough." Sam laughs. "Crystal batteries instead of lithium." Her laugh suddenly turns into a cough.

"You okay?" Daniel asks.

She nods. "Maybe some of the vitamin C, again?"

Teal'c passes out the pills to his friends. Jack and Daniel take another hit of Vitamin C and Tylenol. Sam takes the same.

Daniel pulls out the MRE's. "There's turkey, turkey, chicken enchiladas, and mac and cheese." He wrinkles his nose at the mac and cheese.

"I'll take that, Daniel." Sam offers. "It's less horrid than the enchiladas."

Teal'c has snagged the turkey meal and Jack hands over the other turkey meal to Daniel.

"I like the enchiladas, Carter." Jack says mildly. "I mean it's no Senor Manuel," he says naming the local Mexican place he favors. "But it's better than some." He wrinkles his nose at the mac and cheese.

They quibble good naturedly about the best MRE meals. Teal'c holds fast to his fondness for turkey. The big guy was in heaven at his first Thanksgiving. He explained turkey was unknown to the Jaffa and Go'auld. So it represents a taste of freedom to him. Daniel was fascinated, but it made sense since turkey is a New World bird.

Sam does admit that the mac and cheese has a vaguely meaty taste. But it's easy to eat and filling. Jack assigns watch shifts as they finish up their meals.

"Daniel, you're second watch. Teal'c you take third watch." The men nod. "Carter I want you to get some rest. You're on last." Sam gets a mulish look on her face, and starts to protest, but is interrupted by a sneeze. "Yes, sir," she relents.

His teammates clean up the trash and pack it away in the bags on the FRED. Teal'c stirs the embers of the fire and adds leaves, small branches and three more long burning logs into the firepit. The fire shoots up brightening the campsite.

"Thanks, T." Jack pulls on his winter gloves and switches his baseball cap with a watch cap. "I'm going to check the perimeter."

Teal'c nods. He sits with his back to the stone pillars and drops into his meditation. Daniel is in the tent reading and making furious notes. The mutter of different languages drifts out on the wind.

Sam has settled into her own tent and is ready for bed. The tent is warmer than the previous night, but she's still a little cold. The aches she felt earlier are still with her. She sneezes a few times and rummages in her pack for tissue. She's afraid Janet is right about the flu. Shivering a little she snuggles deeper into the sleeping bag. Soon she falls asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Jack wakes her up. "Carter," he whispers.

She snaps awake. "Sir!" she whispers back. Sam sits up.

"Teal'c is on watch. You're shivering." He pulls her air mattress closer to him. "Unzip your sleeping bag."

Sam shakes her head. "I think I'm getting the flu Janet warned about."

"So? We've been sharing a tent for days. I'm probably infected too." Both are whispering. The pill bottle rattles. Jack curses as it slips from his hands. He feels around for the bottles.

"Hang on sir." She turns up the camping light. Jack shakes out some more Vitamin C and Tylenol for the both of them.

She nods and winces as she swallows the pills. Her throat has gotten sore. Sam feels for her canteen and swallows some more water. She shivers again.

"C'mon, Carter." He unzips his bag. She nods and follows suit.

"C'mere." He pulls her into his arms. Sam sighs and tucks her body into the curve of his. "You're so warm," she sighs.

Her eyes flutter closed and her breathing slows. Jack slowly relaxes his body and soon he's asleep as well.

Sam wakes as her wristwatch alarm buzzes. She stops the alarm and slides out of the double sleeping bag. She puts on her boots, hat and gloves and wriggles out of the tent to the campfire. Teal'c is sitting on the stones.

"MajorCarter." The deep timbre of his voice carries easily even in whispers.

"Anything happen?"

The Jaffa shakes his head. "All is quiet." He rises to his feet. "Stay near the fire."

Watch passes quickly. Sam checks on the DHD charge to see if it's fully charged and ready. She hopes it'll dial out easily. They haven't tried it yet, since the gate was locked up. She walks the perimeter and gathers some kindling. She pours coffee and studies the fire.

"Sam," Daniel crawls out and narrowly avoids hitting his head on the stone seat.

"Here, Daniel." She turns her head. The firelight catches the gleam of her hair peeking out from under the cap.

"Oh, over there." Daniel adjusts his trajectory.

"It's been quiet. The Colonel's right. Snow is starting to gather. I bet the ground is more frozen than yesterday. It's slippery around the temple. Be careful," she warns her friend.

Daniel yawns and nods. He disappears in the direction of the latrine. He wanders back and pours out the last cup of coffee. "I'll finish your watch, Sam." He offers.

She hesitates. But Daniel shooes her away into the tent. "I can't sleep anyway." He tells her. Sam relents and crawls into the tent. Sam kicks off her boots and peels off her jacket. Sliding back into the sleeping bag she's immediately pulled close.

"Everything all right?" Jack whispers into her ear. He tucks her close to his body. He hasn't opened his eyes.

"Mmm." She settles closer. "All quiet. DHD is charged and ready. Fire's still burning. Daniel told me to rest. How bad do I look?" She wonders.

Jack chuckles. "Rest, Sam." She puts her head on his shoulder. "Home tomorrow, sir." She considers how weird it is to be calling him sir while nestled in his arms.

"Good." Jack closes his eyes and his breathing evens out.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam wakes slowly. The scent of coffee and fire tease her nostrils. Her stomach rolls and she feels sore. She's still warm though.

She opens her eyes to see Colonel O'Neill smiling at her. "Morning." He makes no move to unwrap his arms from around her. The half light in the tent has his face in shadow. It highlights the strong bones of his cheeks and the solid blade of his nose. "Does this feel familiar to you?"

"Jonah and Thera." Sam sighs. "That was nice." With the light filtering in, it feels more like the time they were enslaved on that world. The chill in the tent brings back the feelings they shared.

"Yep." He knows she means the freedom they felt to express their affection for each other, not the slave labor or memory alterations.

"We should get up," Sam whispers. Jack tightens his arms around her.

"Yep." He drawls slowly. He smiles slowly. His eyes light up and she can see the creases in his cheeks she knows must have been dimples when he was younger. Jack's head dips and he touches his forehead to hers.

The soft, gentle sleepy mood is broken when Sam sneezes. "Sorry, sir." She reaches for a tissue and he releases her.

"Let's get you home." Jack sits up and soon he and Daniel are heard bickering.

The next few hours are spent in breaking down the camp and testing the DHD. The gate unlocks and the chevrons light up. When the wormhole connects Sam pumps her fist. She types in the SG-1 IDC and sends the MALP home.

"We'll be home in a few hours, General," she reports. "Teal'c, Daniel, and the Colonel are breaking down camp and packing the FRED."

"Good to know, Major. See you then."

The wormhole collapses. Sam walks back to camp and helps pack the sleeping bags. Daniel is shoving books into his pack. Teal'c is taking down the tents. When she finishes packing up the sleeping bags and survival blankets she sees O'Neill staring down into the fire pit.

"Sir?" Sam joins him at the edge of the fire.

"Wondering if we should fill it in or leave it."

"The place doesn't seem to be inhabited. And it's not on the Go'auld map." She points out.

"Yeah," he nods "What if this world has animals?" He asks. Jack still stares at the embers. "They could get hurt."

Sam nods. "Makes sense." She looks at the slowly waning fire. "We should at least put it out and make sure embers won't spread." She's curious. He knows all this. Something else he's thinking about, maybe?

"Yep." He grabs the shovel and starts piling dirt on one end. Sam helps Teal'c in folding the tents back up. Within two hours the tents are packed away, Daniel is taking one last look at the temple, the fire is out and Teal'c and the Colonel are stamping down dirt over the pit.

Jack gives his cap a tug and takes one more look around. "Let's go home, kids." He announces. He takes the controls of the FRED and drives it the short distance to the gate. "Carter, dial it up!"

"Yes, sir." She begins punching in the coordinates.

"Sam, this is gonna work, right?" Daniel asks.

"I sent the MALP back earlier," she assures her friend. As she hits the last coordinate, she sneezes again. "Damn." Putting her hand on the red center control she opens the wormhole.

O'Neill nods to Teal'c and he sends the IDC. The FRED goes first. Jack counts to ten and then steps through the shimmering pool to another side of the galaxy.

His boots clang on the open mesh ramp and the FRED is being moved off the ramp. Daniel and Carter step onto the ramp seconds behind him and Teal'c emerges last.

The wormhole slurps off and they all hear Hammond's voice welcoming them home. They file into the infirmary for the post mission check up.

Janet inspects the thermometer she's just taken from Major Carter. "A little elevated."

Sam nods. "I feel a little achy, and" She's interrupted by another sneeze.

"Okay. Head to the shower and put these on." Janet hands her friend surgical scrubs. "Then back here."

After the hot shower, Sam reports back to the infirmary. A hospital bed is already turned down waiting for her.

Janet takes her tempature again. "It's about 100 degrees," she reports. "Feeling nauseated? You said you were a little achy? Anything else?" Janet is checking Sam's lymph nodes. She makes a note on the chart.

"Yeah a little nauseous. But I had the mac and cheese."

Janet snorts a laugh. Everyone knows that Daniel hates that MRE. It's a running joke that mac and cheese MRE's make you sick.

"I've been sneezing." Sam continues. "I have a slight headache. Oh and I woke up with a sore throat." She remembers.

Janet makes a few more notes on the chart. "It looks like the flu. I want to hold you for a few days to make sure." They've learned on base not to make assumptions about diseases. Janet calls down to the mess and orders some food.

A tray arrives shortly. Sam's already in bed and typing up her report. "What's this?" The tray arrives on the side table.

"Dr. Frasier's orders, ma'am." The orderly smiles shyly at her. Sam examines the tray. Orange juice, blue jello, some soup, toast, a pitcher of water and a bowl of fresh berries.

Janet appears from the other end of the infirmary. "I want you to eat a little. Also drink some water. The ice will help with your throat."

Sam swallows the soup and takes a few bites of toast. The juice aggravates her throat, but she drinks it down. Janet notices the wince. "Sore throat?"

Sam nods. "Okay. No more juice. I'll get you some more vitamin C pills. How's your stomach?"

Sam shrugs. Her stomach is a little rumbly. "Maybe a little upset." She pokes at the berries. She usually likes them, but not today.

Janet nods. "I want you to drink the water. Slowly. Eat the toast." Janet snaps off the overhead lights by Sam's bed. "And try to finish the soup."

Sam finishes her report and emails it out to the General. She shuts down the computer and closes her eyes.

"C'mon Doc!" Jack O'Neill protests his medical officer's order. "I'm not sick!" He shifts his weight and eyes the door.

The petite doctor shifts to block him. "You have an elevated temp. You complained about a headache, you're sneezing." She advances on him. "And you have swollen lymph nodes. Sam has all the same symptoms."

Sudden retching comes from behind Carter's curtain. Janet abandons the Colonel. He can hear the doc soothing Carter.

The nurse hands him scrubs and points to a bed. He mumbles a few things. The only thing the nurse hears clearly is "something to look forward to."

Janet appears a few minutes later. "You're staying, sir. Sam has the flu. Since you shared a tent, you probably do as well." He sighs. He told Carter the same thing, but Janet doesn't have to know that.

A tray of food similar to Carter's is sent up and he eats more than she did.

"I'm not sick, Doc," he protests again. "I'm hungry." He eyes the now empty tray longingly.

Janet huffs. "Fine, sir. I'll send some more food down."

"A steak! With a baked potato!" he shouts. The staff ignore him. "And a beer." He mutters.

He hears gagging coming from the next bed.

"Sorry, Carter." He briefly forgot Sam was in the next alcove and has been steadily emptying her system of what she ate the last few days.

"S'alright, sir." His second groans. "I'd be hungry too." She coughs and then gags again.

"Ugghh."

Jack hops out of his bed and checks on her.

Sam flaps a hand in his direction, "Go'way." She is able to manage.

Jack swaps out the nearly full basin for his empty one. "Here." He shoves it under her nose just in time. Carter gags, heaves and spits into the basin. Jack rubs her back as she empties her stomach. He hands her a tissue when she's finished.

Sam nods and blows her nose. She's able to take one deep breath before her sinuses clog again. O'Neill hands her a small cup of water. "Rinse your mouth, Carter." He says gently.

She makes a face at the bitter taste in her mouth. She rinses and spits careful not to swallow anything.

"Thank you, sir." She whispers.

"COLONEL O"NEILL!" Janet Frasier thunders at seeing his empty bed.

Jack sticks his head out from Carter's cubicle. "Yeah?"

The doctor is startled. "Sorry, sir. I thought." She realizes where he is and grows concerned. "Is Sam okay?"

"No," comes the groan from the bed.

"She heaved again, Doc. Might need some more pans." Jack waves at the full basin on the wheely tray he put it on.

Janet nods absently. Her nurses are already emptying the basin. Janet rinses a cool cloth and wipes down her friend's face. Sam sighs in relief.

"Sir, can you get some tissues for the side table?"

Jack nods and heads to the storage closet. There are boxes of tissues. He grabs 3. Sam probably will need two boxes and while he's hoping not to get sick, his luck isn't all that great.

"Here ya go, Carter. A box all your own." He has popped the cut out away and the tissue stand ready for use. She nods again.

Janet turns to him. "Back in bed, sir." She grins at him. He's instantly suspicious. "Brought you some more food."

His face falls when he sees the bowl of oatmeal on his bed tray. "Oatmeal?"

"With bananas." Janet adds. Her grin gets wider.

"I wanted a steak and a beer," he pouts.

"Oatmeal and bananas are a lot easier coming back up than a steak and a beer. Sir."

"But not going down." Jack mashes his spoon in the cereal. He finishes half the bowl before Teal'c and Daniel appear.

"Bout time!" he barks.

"How's Sam?" Daniel asks.

A groan from the next bed answers his question.

"Oh."

"Are you feeling well, O'Neill?" Teal'c inquires.

"Fine," he grumps. Jack shoves away the oatmeal. "Ole Doc Frasier says it might take a day before I develop symptoms like Carter, but she's sure I'm sick." Jack folds his arms and stares beyond his friends to the doctor at the end of the room. "I'm fine." He raises his voice to be heard.

Teal'c shakes his head. Daniel shifts his weight and looks for another subject to distract Jack.

"Hey, General Hammond was really impressed with how Sam fixed the DHD." Daniel blurts out. "He wants her to write it all up as a technical thing for other teams." He beams at the curtain. "I mean once she's better, of course."

"Wonderful." Jack grumps.

Janet comes and shoos his visitors away after a few minutes. He asks Daniel to grab his mail and check the house while he's stuck here in infirmary hell. Teal'c has dropped off a few books from the base library in his quiet way. At least he won't go nuts lying around staring at the ceiling.


	7. Chapter 7

In the middle of the night he wakes up and barely manages to get his head over the basin provided. Retching and gagging he expells the oatmeal and bananas he ate. Frasier was right. A beer and a steak coming up would have ruined his taste for them. Not that he'll ever say that.

"GAH!" Jack blows his nose and tosses the tissues into the small pail on the table. Flopping back on the bed, "I hate it when she's right," he grumbles. He winces at how nasally he sounds.

"Me too, sir." Sam whispers.

They share a gagging laugh. "It wouldn't be so bad, if I didn't have to heave my guts up." Jack finally manages.

"It could be worse, sir." Sam reminds him. "The plague was pretty bad."

"Or the touched disease." They shudder at the reminders. "The flu vs. ole Doc Frasier." He muses. "We'll be better in time for the weekend."

"Yep," Sam whispers. "Night sir."

"Night, Carter."

They fall into an uneasy rest until the next morning.

Janet comes in for her morning shift and if she allows herself a smirk at Jack O'Neill's expense when she sees his updated chart, no one knows it.

She visits Major Carter first. "Hi Sam," her friend is pale and the shadows under her eyes tell the doctor she hasn't gotten much rest.

Carter nods. Her throat is too sore to talk much. Janet checks the chart and is pleased to see her friend's temp is coming down. She hasn't vomited in several hours.

"Okay, after some fluids it's time for a bath." Janet announces. She calls down for broth and some ice. "I want you to take these pills," Janet hands over some vitamins and a pain reliever. Sam gulps down the pills and hopes she can keep them down. Sam sips the broth when it arrives. The hot liquid eases her sore throat for a while.

After the broth is finished, Janet helps her friend to one of the bathrooms. A hot bath has been run and Sam sinks gratefully into the tub. She feels all grubby.

"Sam, just in case, there's a basin on the side." Janet tells her. Janet pulls the curtain closed again and leaves the bathroom.

"Thanks, Janet." She whispers. The hot water soaks into her muscles and the aches and soreness gradually ease. Sam relaxes in the tub. She closes her eyes and sighs in relief.

Back in the infirmary, Jack O'Neill is throwing up his broth. He gags one more time and collapses back on his pillows.

Janet hands him some ice chips and he spits out the after taste. He sucks on a few ice chips easing his thirst and the sore throat. After finishing the ice he gets a thermometer stuck in his mouth.

"You're getting better, sir," she announces cheerfully.

He glares at her. "This is better?" he tries to growl at her.

She smiles at him. "Your fever is down, you aren't throwing up the melted ice water." She's seen other flu patients throw up the ice water almost instantly. "And you aren't as congested as Sam was." Janet shakes down the thermometer.

"Great." He mutters.

"Later, if you keep the broth and meds down, you can take a bath, like Sam." She says. "I promise you're getting better."

"If you say so." Jack closes his eyes and falls asleep. He sleeps for several hours. "Colonel O'Neill," Janet calls.

Jack groans. His eyeslids feel glued together. The full bladder motivates him to answer the doctor. "Yeah,"

"Come on, sir." Janet encourages him. "Time for some fluids."

Jack winces. He opens his eyes. "In a minute." He swings his legs over the bed. He'll be damned if he uses a bedpan. His knees feel a little wobbly, but he manages to hobble to the bathroom.

Janet has a cup of broth for him and some water waiting. She holds out some pills which he gulps back. "They better stay down," he grumbles.

After half a cup of broth he feels more like himself to ask about the team, "Carter is better? How're Daniel and Teal'c?"

"Daniel and Teal'c are fine. Neither one of them had any infection." His eyes narrow at that. "Major Carter is recovering well. If you both continue on this path, you'll be home on Saturday." Janet grins at him. "That means doing what I say," she warns him.

A flash of defiance crosses his face. Janet can almost hear the phrase 'Napoleonic power monger,' but the Colonel nods. The lure of a steak and beer in his own backyard is too strong.

"Good. If you keep the broth and pills down for another 30 minutes you'll get in the bath." Janet promises.

Jack grumbles, "Rather have a shower," to no one in particular.

"It really helps, sir." Carter's voice comes strong and cheerful through the curtain.

"Hey, Carter!" Jack reaches out and pulls the curtain back a little. "How'ya doing?"

"Haven't thrown up in a whole day, sir." Sam chuckles. "Janet let me have blue Jello today."

Jack laughs a little. In truth his stomach is less upset than yesterday and he feels sore, but not like someone worked him over with a baseball bat. "Major progress, Major."

Sam giggles. "Hey no giggling!" Jack flops back on his pillows. He blows his nose and takes a deep breath. He reads a few more pages of the book Teal'c brought him.

Finally Janet returns. "Okay, sir time for your bath." She cuts him off. "I know you prefer a shower, but you can't stand for that long. You're in the bath for 30 minutes at least."

By the time he gets to the bathroom and peels off his scrubs, he admits to himself the doc was right. His legs are trembling and his back is killing him. Jack sinks gratefully into the hot tub. "Ah," he sighs.

An hour later he's back in fresh scrubs and the aches have disappeared for a little while. He fleetingly hopes for a better meal than beef or chicken broth and red jello. His hopes are dashed when he sees his tray. Chicken soup, red jello, juice and pills.

"Ah, the celebrated 3 star cuisine of the base hospital." He announces.

"You're feeling better, sir," Carter observes. She got a bread roll with her soup and jello.

Jack quirks an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"First crack about hospital food since we got home." She explains.

"It's easy on the stomach," Janet sweeps in and has heard the last part of the conversation. "Just like oatmeal and bananas."

Jack glares at her. She's schooled her face into a bland mask, but he knows she's laughing internally. He crawls into bed and picks up his spoon. The chicken soup is good. Some green leafy vegetable instead of mushy carrots, small chunks of chicken and little pieces of pasta. Sooner than expected his soup is gone. He sips the juice and wonders if he could hide the pills. But the jello beckons and he swallows them down.

Picking up his book he flips to a new article. "Sweet." He mumbles.

"Did you say something, sir?" Carter asks from behind the curtain.

"Nothing to worry about, Carter." He starts reading. After 6 pages his eyes are drooping closed. A rustle of paper signals he's fallen asleep while reading and the journal has dropped out of his hands.

He wakes up hours later. Shoving himself out of bed and gritting it out to the bathroom gives him a thrill of pride. "It's come to this." He mutters resentfully. "I travel the galaxy, fight bad guys, save the world and peeing alone is the highlight of my week."

Jack washes his hands and splashes cool water on his face. Getting back into bed, he closes his eyes. He feels better, just weak.

"How're you feeling, Colonel?" His eyes pop open. Frasier is standing over him.

"I need a shave," he announces.

"Ah, feeling much better." She shoves the thermometer in his mouth. "Cassie says hi, and get better," Janet tells him. "She misses you."

He glares at her. Using Cass like that to guilt him into following her orders is low.

She pulls the thermometer out his mouth, "Hmm, back to normal." She orders him another bath. "Sam is going home tonight. I'll release you tomorrow morning." Janet turns away, "If you behave yourself!"

Washed, shaved, his hair shampooed and in a clean shirt and sweats he feels almost himself again. Janet left out scrubs for him, but Teal'c smuggled in clothes from the locker room.

"Hi, sir," Carter appears at his bedside. She's dressed in her street clothes.

"Going riding, Carter?" He notes the leather jacket, boots and jeans.

"Oh, no. Just what was in the locker." Sam shrugs and leans closer. "Laundry day." He catches a whiff of her soap.

He barks out a laugh. "Too bad. Probably a nice day to ride," he says wistfully.

Sam shakes her head. "Raining." She looks disappointed though. "General Hammond ordered us on downtime. I'll be home for a few days."

Jack shoves his pillows around. He's able to sit up more easily. "What no experiments, no science emergencies?"

Sam shakes her head. "I was going to ask for some leave anyway, sir." She admits.

Jack's surprised, but he doesn't show it. "Okay. Enjoy."

"When do you get to go home?" she asks.

"He'll be released tomorrow, most likely," Janet tells her. "Luckily for both of you, it was just a mild flu bug."

"Yeah, lucky us," O'Neill mutters. He knows it could have been worse. But it doesn't mean he had to like a mild flu bug.

"See you later, sir." Sam leaves him to the tender mercies of the nurses.


	8. Chapter 8

The next afternoon Janet finally lets him go. Hammond drops by the infirmary as he's finished getting dressed. He pulls his sweatshirt over his head.

"General," He greets his CO with a tired smile. Jack leans back on his bed. Getting dressed took more effort than he will admit.

"Even though Dr. Frasier is releasing you, I'm putting you on medical leave for a week." Hammond informs him.

"General!" Jack protests. He had the flu, not surgery.

"Stay home, sleep late, watch tv." Hammond advises. "SG-1 has been busy lately. I need my flagship team healthy and ready to go." His genial words are laced with the steel of command and a hint of parental guilt tripping.

Jack surrenders. "Yes, sir." His shoulders slump. He gets bored at home. At least in the mountain there's stuff to do, people to bug. Maybe he'll stop by Carter's or Daniel's place with food and a movie. He cheers up at that thought.

Finally leaving the mountain he drives through town. Passing his favorite pizza joint and Thai place he keeps going. He'd never tell Frasier but his stomach is still a little tender. Instead of taking the turn to home he heads to the grocery store.

Snagging a cart he browses through the produce section. Apples, a bag of spinach, green beans, big honking potatos, a few onions, some mushrooms, and tomatos go into bags. He doubles back for bananas for his cereal. In the bakery he debates himself. Rolls or bread? He goes with bread, since it makes better steak sandwiches. He ignores the pie and cakes. The ones on base are better anyway.

Jack tosses a bunch of good steaks into the cart and grabs a chicken. He just bought a rotisserie bar for his grill and has been dying to try it out.

He makes a quick stop in the cereal aisle. He makes a face at the fruit loops. After months of eating them he hasn't recovered his appetite for them. He grabs the Cheerios. Rounding the corner into the water and soda aisle he bumps someone else's cart.

"Oh sorry," he apologizes to the woman. _"Nice,"_ he thinks to himself. He's got a thing for tall, blonde women. He dredges up a flirty smile.

The woman's head snaps up, "Sir?" Sam Carter's wide blue eyes stare at him.

Jack is momentarily startled. He recovers and his smile widens. "Hey Carter."

Sam loses her train of thought at seeing her CO smile at her. She forgets how attractive he really is.

Jack sees Sam's eyes dilate and smirks. "Stocking up, huh?" He nods at the frozen dinners in her cart.

She blushes. "Yeah. They're great when I don't want to cook. And, well…" She shrugs and looks around. Jack nods, understanding what she means. They all buy frozen dinners to have food in the house after an off-world mission. They keep for a long time and fill you up.

"Do it myself," he admits. "That's my next stop." He snags a case of ginger ale. He hears a smothered laugh as he puts it in the cart. "No tattling, Major!"

Sam laughs. "Only if you promise the same, sir."

He looks into her cart. It's got frozen dinners, two cases of ginger ale, some coffee, a bottle of milk, and tea. He chuckles. "Deal." His brow furrows. "You really should get more than frozen dinners though Carter," he admonishes. "Good sale this week on apples."

"I guess so," she grins. He has bags of them in his cart. In fact there's a lot more produce in his cart than she'd expect from a guy who claims steak, beer, pie, and pizza are the basic food groups.

"Keeping the doctor away," Sam teases him.

"Considering where I spent the last two days, yeah." He grins. "You should too."

Sam isn't sure how he managed it, but when she leaves the store she has fresh produce; including apples, the makings for soup, and an invitation to his place for chicken on the grill and a movie.

Two days later the door to the Colonel's house swings open. "Hi, sir." She catches a whiff of lemons as she enters the house.

"I'm out on the deck," he calls out to her.

Sam detours into the kitchen to drop off the beer she brought. She joins her CO out on the deck with the grill.

"Can you hold this, Carter?" He asks. On the side table is a chicken, a grill bar and what looks like a cage. He has the end of the bar in his hands.

"Sure, sir." She watches as he sets the chicken in the cage and attaches it to the bar. Working together they set the bar onto the grill. Sam sees the chicken is stuffed with herbs and lemons.

"Take a while, but it'll be amazing." The Colonel assures her.

"When are Daniel and Teal'c getting here, sir?"

Suddenly he looks abashed. "I didn't ask them."

Sam's shocked. 'I can't be here, sir." She digs in her jacket for her car keys as she heads off the deck.

Jack hustles after her. "Carter! Wait." She makes it the driveway before he catches up. "Sam." He says. "Please."

She stops. Shoving her hands into her pockets she turns. "This is wrong," she tells him. "You knew it when you asked." She glares up at him, her blue eyes dark with anger.

Jack stands there. "We really shouldn't talk about this outside." He nods to the lights in his neighbor's houses.

Sam recognizes his logic. "We shouldn't be talking about this at all," she mumbles as she goes past him.

He grimaces. He knows she's right too. But they're coming to a breaking point. He realized it in the tent. But he couldn't pull back.

"Have a seat," he invites. Jack goes through the living room to his grill. He fusses and fiddles with the heat as he checks on the chicken.

In the house, Sam has snagged one of his cold beers and is sitting in the dining room.

"So, _sir_ what did you want to talk about?" she asks. The bite to his honorific is about as sarcastic as she can get.

"C'mon, Sam. The armbands, the za'tarc thing, rescuing Teal'c and I from the death glider, being Thera and Jonah?"

"In no particular order," she says.

Jack rolls his eyes. "Are you always this sarcastic and keep it to yourself?"

Sam allows herself a small smile and sips her beer.

He glares at her. "I'll take that as a yes." He tosses his hands in the air and disappears into the kitchen. Grumbling is heard along with the clink of glass and the hiss of a bottle cap. Jack stomps back in with another beer.

"Look Carter, we both have feelings that we would rather not talk about." He starts.

"That we can't talk about, sir." She interrupts him. "That we aren't allowed to have." Her voice rises in frustration.

"Yeah good luck on regulating feelings and morality." Jack says. Sam thinks about it and nods in agreement. "The regs still stand." She points out.

"But we aren't a normal team, either. No one at the SGC is really part of a normal operation." He takes a swig of beer. "Even a regular classified operation isn't like this." He shrugs.

"So we're going to have to figure it out for ourselves." He finishes.

"And you think beer and grilled chicken is the way to do that?" Sam asks curiously.

"It's a good a way as any to start." He smiles. "Besides after using that fire pit I have a craving for burned meat."

Sam is caught off guard at the smile and the humor. She laughs.

"That's my Carter." Jack stops. "I mean, not MY Carter, but.." he trails off. His ears are pink.

Sam sighs. "So feelings."

"We pretty much said it all with the Za'tarc machine." He scowls. "And we aren't doing a great job of leaving it in the room." He sighs at the memory.

"I'm sorry, sir." Sam apologizes. "It was my fault in the tent."

"Don't be sorry, Sam. We both felt it."

"But you didn't" she starts to say.

"AH!" he holds up a hand. "I don't want to hear it." Jack sets his beer down. "Sam, we care about each other. Hell some people would call it love." He blurts. "If we met in the grocery store or at a bar, we'd have flirted, exchanged numbers, started dating. Probably for years now." He states baldly. Sam chokes on her beer at the statement. She knows how private Jack O'Neill is. For him to flat out say he loves her and would have been with her for years is, for him, a Jumbotron proposal at the Super Bowl.

"So we slipped up a little. We let each other know how much we care when our guard was down." Jack shrugs. "I'm not sorry."

She shakes her head. "No, I'm not either."

"So what's wrong?"

"You know." She tells him. "If this comes out, any of this." Sam waves her beer bottle encompassing the two of them and the dining room, "our careers are over. No promotions, no field work."

Jack nods. He hates how unfair it is, but the truth is he knows she's right. He might not make General, but honestly he knows that's a long shot anyway for him. Carter would be stalled at Major. Working science projects in the mountain. Bouncing back and forth to Nevada to here, never leading teams. And it'd be the Air Force's loss.

"I know." He meets her eyes. The sadness in his own tears at her. "I just think we need some guidelines."

"No tent sharing for a while?" she suggests.

"For a start. Spend more time away from work." Sam grimaces. She's a little work obsessed. Jack hesitates to say this next fix, because it's the last thing he wants. "Date other people."

"Oh," she says softly.

"There are rumors, you know." For all his authority Jack O'Neill is more clued into the gossip of Cheyenne Mountain than almost anyone. "If we actually have a life beyond the team, it'd help."

"It's easy for you to say." Sam grumbles. "You can pick up someone at the grocery store." She noticed all the admiring looks from women in the store, aimed at her CO.

Jack laughs. "You didn't notice the trail of guys following you around ? And that's just the mountain, Carter." He shakes his head. "You'd have your pick."

Sam flushes.

He reaches over and grabs her hand. "I'd be first in line, if I could," Jack squeezes her hand and lets go. "Gotta check the grill." He shoves away from the table and disappears outside.

Sam busies herself in setting the table. She knows what it cost Jack O'Neill to admit how he feels about her.

Over grilled lemon chicken and potatoes they come up with some guidelines to diffuse the tension and stop the rumors. Neither is happy about the agreement. But they also know it's the only way.

"This is going to be tough, Carter." Jack admits. One idea they had was he acts more military toward her. Because the team is closer than most military units, hell the entire SGC is, military formality isn't enforced. Especially since Daniel wouldn't know how to do that anyway.

"I know, sir." In truth Sam likes being treated as one of the guys. Going back to more formal rules and interaction between the two of them will be hard. "But it's important."

He nods. He knows the NID is ramping up scrutiny. And they won't care how many times Carter saved the galaxy. If they can bust either of them for behavior unbecoming they'll do it. Kinsey is probably salivating at the opportunity to do just that.

They clear the table together. Years of missions have made them comfortable with each other and the dishes are washed and put away quickly.

"So." Carter begins.

"So." Jack echoes. "Hell with it, c'mere." O'Neill opens his arms and Sam steps into his embrace. Sam's the perfect height for him. They fit together so easily. Her head rests at his shoulder. She sighs as his arms come around her and pull her close. He closes his eyes. This embrace might have to last them for years. He needs to savor it.

"You smell so good," she whispers. She can smell woodsmoke, lemon and beer, but also a clean scent underneath it all.

"So do you." He breathes. She smells like coffee and flowers, a hint of beer and motor oil. It's intoxicating.

Sam looks up at him and smiles.

His head descends and he kisses her gently. At first. His control evaporates when Sam opens her mouth under his. He groans as her tongue touches his. His mind hazes with desire and he explores her mouth in all the ways he's dreamed about. He doesn't remember moving, but suddenly Sam is against the wall of his hall. She moans into his mouth and her hands tug on his hair as he shifts closer to her. A small thread of sanity screams at him to stop. He kisses her twice more before pulling back.

"You should go, Sam." He tells her. He's hanging on by a thread. Another few minutes and all their guidelines will be so much hot air and broken promises.

She nods. Her eyes are dark and hazy. He nearly pulls her back into his arms. She zips her coat and leaves without another word. Soon he hears her car start up. He peers out around his curtains to watch her leave. He keeps a watch on the other cars in the street to make sure no one is following Sam.

After he is satisfied the street is clear, he heads to take a cold shower.


End file.
